Samsung refutes Note 7 'remote deactivation' reports

Remote disabling of recalled Notes not part of official Samsung guidance.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 recall saga has been gathering pace in recent days. One of the reports doing the rounds over the weekend pointed to the possibility of Samsung remotely disabling devices affected by the battery issue causing some handsets to catch fire or explode. The story goes that one French Note 7 owner on Reddit was told that every "recalled" Note 7 would be remotely deactivated by Samsung after September 30, thus ensuring that no potentially dangerous handsets could be used after this date.

However the firm's official line is that this isn't happening. We've reached out to Samsung and been told that this is not something the company has stated, and that all official guidance will be published on its website.

In a fast-moving story like this, it's easy for inaccurate info to quickly spread. True, the remote deactivation of defective phones would've been a sure-fire way to prevent any more incidents like the recent report from New York where a young boy was injured by a combusting Note 7. But it now appears a mass-deactivation is not happening anytime soon.

For more background on the Note 7 recall, hit up our guide to everything you need to know.